Piranha Plant (SSBU)
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| Piranha Plant in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate | |
|---|---|
 
| |
| Universe | Mario |
| Availability | Downloadable |
| Final Smash | Petey Piranha |
| “ | Piranha Plant Pipes Up! | ” |
| —Introduction Tagline | ||
Piranha Plant (パックンフラワー, Packun Flower) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Revealed alongside Ken and Incineroar on November 1st, 2018, it is the first DLC character in Ultimate, and was released on January 29th, 2019. It is available as a free bonus until January 31st, 2019 to anyone who pre-purchases the digital version of Ultimate or registers their physical version with My Nintendo. While Piranha Plant is not part of the Fighters Pass, it will be available for purchase separately after January 31st. Piranha Plant is classified as fighter #70.
Attributes
Piranha Plant is a heavyweight fighter with slow mobility and effective anti-air tools.
One of Piranha Plant’s most effective strengths are its special moves, which are well varied and good for various situations. Its neutral special, Ptooie, is a unique projectile that can be tossed in either direction or held in the air as a good anti-air option and a good trading tool due to its power. Poison Breath is a slow-moving projectile that doesn’t make opponents flinch, but it deals massive damage, especially when it’s at full charge which can force opponents to respect it, making it a good trapping move. It also has a great recovery in the form of Piranhacopter, which has hitboxes beside Piranha Plant and travels a great distance, which combined with Piranha Plant’s high weight, gives it excellent survivability overall. Lastly, its down special, Long-Stem Strike, has super armour during its pot phase and tremendous range when fully-charged. However, it can at times be risky as it increases its hurtbox size quite a lot during the attack frames.
Piranha Plant’s tilts are good for starting juggles or combos as well as spacing and killing. Up tilt can lead into various aerial attacks at low percents; forward tilt is decently fast and can KO at very high percentages; down tilt can combo into moves such as forward tilt or forward aerial.
Its smash attacks are generally slow but powerful, such as its forward smash, which has some start up and end-lag but kills as early as 60% on most fighters when sweet-spotted near the ledge.
Its aerials are well-rounded. Neutral aerial is a multi-hit move that can drag opponents down; Forward aerial is good for edge-guarding, thanks to its wide range; Back aerial is a slow but powerful move that KOs at 100% near the ledge; up aerial is one of its best combo/juggle tools thanks to the speed and wide range; down aerial is a slow but long-ranged and decently strong meteor smash with very fast startup.
It also has a decently fast grab game, a kill throw in the form of up throw, and a down throw with good follow-up potential at low percents.
Piranha Plant does, however, have some noteworthy flaws. Its overall mobility is lackluster having an average initial dash speed and dash speed, but lack of air acceleration and slow air speed, giving it difficulties keeping up with swift characters such as Zero Suit Samus or Sonic especially on the air. Piranha Plant’s high weight and tall hurtbox make it vulnerable to combos, particularly from those with strong combo games such as Bayonetta or Luigi. Additionally, Piranha Plant doesn’t have the greatest approach options with its attacks being generally slow, and most of its kill moves being risky, making it often rely on specials to win neutral. Finally, Piranha Plant has poor landings, having difficulty getting back out of juggles.
Overall, Piranha Plant is a unique heavyweight that utilizes unique projectiles and attacks to effectively zone and KO opponents, but must be careful when throwing out normal attacks to avoid being punished due to the end-lag many of them have, thus making it a patient fighter when it comes to approaching.
Moveset
- When Piranha Plant is footstooled while crouching, it will automatically attack the opponent. This attack's base damage is 4%.
Note: All numbers are listed as base damage, without the 1v1 multiplier.
| Name | Damage | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neutral attack | 2.4% | A leaf jab, followed by a swipe with the opposite leaf, followed by a headbutt. Alternatively, the leaf swipes can be followed by a flurry of bites, ending in a more powerful bite; similar to Corrin's rapid jab. | ||
| 2.2% | ||||
| 4.4% | ||||
| 0.6% (loop), 3.4% (end) | ||||
| Forward tilt | Push and Pull | 5.5% (hit 1), 6% (hit 2) | A forward bite. Pressing the attack button a second time will have the Piranha Plant bite a second time. The first hit will slightly pull opponents inward and its jaws are intangible for as long as the hitboxes are out. | |
| Up tilt | rowspan="1" | 9%/7% | The Piranha Plant flails its head upward. Its head is intangible for as long as the hitboxes are out. | |
| Down tilt | rowspan="1" | 6% | A swipe with its leaf. | |
| Dash attack | 10% (clean), 7% (late) | Performs a "dropkick" using its pot/pipe. | ||
| Forward smash | Prickly Swing | 19% (head), 15% (body) | The Piranha Plant turns into a Spiny Piranha Plant, and headbutts forward. Its head is intangible for as long as the hitboxes are out. Has a sweetspot at its lips. | |
| Up smash | 3% (hit 1), 12% (hit 2) | The Piranha Plant lunges upward and bites. Like its up tilt and forward smash, its head is intangible for as long as the hitboxes are out, and thanks to its seven active frames, up smash works as a potent anti-air. | ||
| Down smash | 12% (front), 14% (back) | The Piranha Plant sweeps its pot/pipe in front, and then behind itself. | ||
| Neutral aerial | rowspan="1" | 2% (hits 1-4), 3% (hit 5) | The Piranha Plant spins rapidly with its leaves extended, hitting multiple times. Resembles Ivysaur's neutral aerial. | |
| Forward aerial | rowspan="1" | 11% (pot), 9% (body) | The Piranha Plant swings its pot/pipe upwards in front of itself. | |
| Back aerial | Fire Breath | 14.5% | The Piranha Plant turns around and spits out a burst of fire. | |
| Up aerial | 8% | An upwards headbutt. | ||
| Down aerial | Flowerpot Meteor | 11% (clean), 9% (late) | The Piranha Plant flips then stomps below itself with its pot/pipe. Sweetspots at the bottom of the pot, which will meteor smash. Has very fast startup compared to most meteor smashes. | |
| Grab | — | The Piranha Plant reaches out with its leaves. | ||
| Pummel | 1.3% | Bites the opponent. | ||
| Forward throw | 3% (hit), 8% (throw) | Headbutts the opponent away. | ||
| Back throw | 11% | Chomps the opponent, launching them backwards. | ||
| Up throw | 12% | Tosses the opponent upward, and launches them with a bite. A reliable KO throw at high percents. | ||
| Down throw | 2.5% (hits 1-2), 3% (throw) | Throws the opponent to the ground and bites them twice. Can combo into an aerial at low percents. | ||
| Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge |
— | — | ||
| Techs | — | — | ||
| Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front) |
7% | Sweeps its head around itself. | ||
| Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back) |
7% | Sweeps its head around itself. | ||
| Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip) |
5% | Kicks its pot/pipe forward and back. | ||
| Edge attack Edge getups |
10% | Dropkicks with its pot/pipe. | ||
| Neutral special | Ptooie | 14% (held), 18% (thrown, early), 13% (thrown, late) | The Piranha Plant spits up a metal spiky ball, keeping it suspended by blowing air upwards. The spiky ball can then be blown either in front or behind the Piranha Plant. The spiky ball has transcendent priority, and the move stalls Piranha Plant's descent if used in the air, making it a very deadly edgeguarding tool. Based on the Ptooie enemy introduced in Super Mario Bros. 3. | |
| Side special | Poison Breath | 1.2% (uncharged, center loop), 0.6% (uncharged, edge loop), 2.7% (fully charged, center loop), 1.6% (fully charged, edge loop) | The Piranha Plant spews a damaging cloud of poison in front of it. The cloud itself has no knockback, and deals no hitstun. If an opponent attempts to shield against this attack, it will do detrimental damage to the shield itself. The move is chargable, and it can be saved for later use. During execution, Piranha Plant changes its color to match the Putrid Piranha enemy from the Paper Mario series. | |
| Up special | Piranhacopter | 1.2% (hits 1-8), 4% (hit 9) | The Piranha Plant spins its leaves in a fashion akin to a propeller, causing it to rise upward. It can be angled to the left and right during the ascent. Based on the Jumping Piranha Plants from Super Mario World. | |
| Down special | Long-Stem Strike | 8.4% (uncharged, close), 12% (uncharged, far), 18.2% (fully charged, close), 26% (fully charged, far) | The Piranha Plant retreats into its pot/pipe, and extends outward to bite opponents in the direction aimed. Piranha Plant gains super armor during the charge, and invincibility on its head during the bite. Likely a reference to Elasto-Piranhas or Stalking Piranha Plants. | |
| Final Smash | Petey Piranha | 49% total | The Piranha Plant summons Petey Piranha, who stomps around the stage with his cages from his boss fight in The Subspace Emissary. Opponents that get too close will get trapped in his cages. When the Final Smash is nearly over, Petey Piranha will breathe fire at both of the cages, then slam both of the cages to the ground, dealing heavy damage and knockback to the opponents who were trapped in the cages. It is possible for Petey Piranha to fall off stage, taking any trapped opponents with him, though is not a guaranteed KO if the opponent has leftover jumps, a strong recovery or both. | |
On-screen appearance
- Piranha Plant rises straight up out of its pot, making a Warp Pipe noise as it does so.
Taunts
- Up Taunt: Rises up out of its pot, using the same animation and sound effects as its entrance animation.
- Side Taunt: Bites the air around it multiple times, similar to one of Bowser's taunts.
- Down Taunt: Spins around and strikes a pose with a grin.
Victory poses
- Bites the air around it three times, before smiling.
- Mario runs towards Piranha Plant's pot, only for Piranha Plant to pop out and bite Mario, sending him flying, before smiling.
- Hangs down from the ceiling and poses.
Classic Mode: New Bloom
All of Piranha Plant's opponents are the base roster newcomers in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
| Round | Opponent | Stage | Music |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Inkling (x8) | Moray Towers | Splattack! (Original) |
| 2 | Ridley and Dark Samus | Norfair | Vs. Ridley (Ultimate) |
| 3 | Simon and Richter | Dracula's Castle | Vampire Killer (Remix) |
| 4 | King K. Rool and Chrom | Pirate Ship | Gang-Plank Galleon |
| 5 | Isabelle and Daisy | Smashville | Tour - Animal Crossing: New Leaf |
| 6 | Incineroar and Ken | Boxing Ring | Battle at the Summit! |
| Bonus Stage | |||
| Final | Rathalos | ? | Roar/Rathalos |
Role in World of Light
Unlike the other fighters, it's unknown if Piranha Plant was captured by Galeem when he engulfed the universe in light, as it doesn't appear in the mode's story due to its status as downloadable content.
It is unlocked for use in the mode after awaking the 10th fighter on a fresh save file. If the player starts the mode in an already saved file that, prior to downloading it, has progressed beyond the 10th awakened fighter, Piranha Plant is also immediately unlocked.
Alternate costumes
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Reveal trailer
Gallery
Piranha Plant's splash art.
Piranha Plant's amiibo.
Piranha Plant's fighter card.
Piranha Plant attacking Wario eating a Maxim Tomato on Skyloft.
Piranha Plant shooting poison at Toon Link on Mushroom Kingdom.
Piranha Plant falling on Midgar.
Mario with a Super Leaf floating over Piranha Plant's blue, gray, pink, and green costumes on Super Mario Maker.
Pirahna Plant next to Jigglypuff's Sing in Living Room.
Piranha Plant spitting poison on Hanenbow.
Character Showcase Video
Trivia
- Currently, if used in All-Star Smash, Piranha Plant can corrupt the game's save data.
- This makes it the second downloadable character that can potentially corrupt its respective save data, the first being Mewtwo in Smash 4.
- Piranha Plant's official artwork has a UV Mapping error near the base of its pot, where the texture appears to squish vertically.
- Despite the fanbase's bewildered reaction to Piranha Plant's reveal, Masahiro Sakurai stated in an interview that he does not aim to surprise players, stating that "The surprise element quickly fades once the announcement has been made. Rather, I believe it’s important to have a good balance as a game. In the past titles in the series, Mr. Game & Watch, R.O.B. and Duck Hunt Dog were some of the examples we offered outside of people’s typical expectations. However, if we don’t have these types of fighters, and we only had typical “hero/heroine” type fighters in the lineup, there’s not much difference. It’s probably not very interesting. Correct? Also, unlike some main characters from some (not widely known) franchises, Piranha Plant is a character everyone knows well." [1]
- Piranha Plant is the first newcomer in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate to have all its alternate costumes shown in its reveal trailer; in fact, they were all shown in one shot, excluding the main.
- Bowser Jr. was the first character this happened with, when he was revealed in his trailer for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
- Piranha Plant is the first playable character to be a mob.
- In addition, Ultimate is the first time a generic Piranha Plant has been playable in any game. However, Petey Piranha, a Piranha Plant himself, has been playable in various Mario spin-off games; Fire and Poison Piranha Plants are capturable by Mario in Super Mario Odyssey; and Fire Stalking Piranha Plants are playable in Minion Quest: The Search for Bowser and Bowser Jr.'s Journey.
- Piranha Plant is the first downloadable character who receives an official Palutena's Guidance unlike in Smash 4, where downloadable fighters had a generic conversation.
- Piranha Plant is the first (and only, so far) playable character who isn't a Pokémon in the Smash Bros. series to be referred to with gender-neutral pronouns, barring the error in which Dark Samus was referred to as "it" until the mistake was corrected.
- Piranha Plant is the second DLC character to be free for a limited time after launch, the first being Mewtwo in Super Smash Bros. 4.
- Both characters were first to be released as DLC in their respective games.
- Piranha Plant is the first original newcomer in Ultimate to not have a CGI reveal trailer.
- The splash art for Piranha Plant is so far the only one that uses a different font, opposite to the font "DF Gothic Japanese" that was used in every single splash art since Super Smash Bros. 4.
- Along with Robin and Little Mac, Piranha Plant is one of the only characters with a victory pose that features a separate character (in this case, Mario).
- This also makes it the second character to have a victory pose that features another playable fighter, as Robin's involves Chrom.
- Unlike the other cases, however, Piranha Plant's victory pose is the only one to feature an enemy of the winning character.
- When entering a World of Light save file after obtaining Piranha Plant, the player will get a message saying “You can now play as Piranha Plant!”.
- Piranha Plant's "eye glint" effect for pre-match splash screens and its HUD icon for charged attacks and Final Smashes is applied differently from other fighters as it has no eyes; the twinkle effect is applied to one of its teeth instead.
